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Monday, Jul 21, 2014, 3:59 pm

Israeli Foreign Minister Threatens to Ban Al Jazeera

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the Israeli government will work to prevent Al Jazeera from operating in Israel.(Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών / Flickr / Creative Commons)

Just one month after three of its journalists were sentenced to seven-year prison terms in Egypt for their alleged support of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera faces another threat to its reporting in the Middle East. This time, however, it’s a democratic government, not a military dictatorship, that’s doing the threatening: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called for a ban on the Qatari media network’s operations in Israel, Haaretzreports.

During a press conference on Monday, Lieberman called Al Jazeera a “central pillar of the propaganda apparatus of Hamas” and compared the network to Der Sturmer, a World War II-era Nazi-run German newspaper.

Al Jazeera has frustrated the Israeli government with its critical coverage of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, reporting on the heavy humanitarian toll of Israeli airstrikes and tank shells, including the destruction of a Palestinian hospital on Monday.

Israeli officials have also accused the Qatari government, which owns Al Jazeera, of providing funding and material support for Hamas, which has its political headquarters in Qatar’s capital city of Doha.

The Israeli government has long had a tense relationship with the journalists and media outlets that report on its conflicts with Palestine. Israeli security services have prevented journalists deemed too critical of its policies from entering the country. During previous military operations in Gaza, Israel has targeted media outlets allegedly associated with Hamas, killing two cameramen based in Gaza and wounding at least 10 media workers in a series of November 2012 airstrikes. A spokesperson for the Israeli government defended those strikes, saying that those targeted were “not legitimate journalists.”

But experts say banning Al Jazeera in Israel would likely violate the country’s Basic Laws, which guarantee freedom of the press. Only the Israeli Supreme Court could ban the news outlet, according to Haaretz.

Lieberman has also called on Israelis to boycott Arab businesses that have protested Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, writing on his Facebook page:

I call upon everyone not to shop anymore at the stores and businesses of those among the Arab sector who are participating today in the general strike that was declared by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee as a sign of empathy for Gaza residents and against Operation Protective Edge.

The Al Jazeera ban comes as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 550, with no immediate end to the conflict in sight. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told a parliamentary committee on Monday that Israel’s military operations in Gaza would continue until it completes its objectives.

"If needed, we will recruit more reservists in order to continue the operation as long as necessary until the completion of the task and the return of the quiet in the whole of Israel especially from the threat of the Gaza Strip," Yaalon told the committee.

yeah, i was just trying to meet half way, knowing all along that a christian has about as much chance in pakistan as a snowball in hell...i guess were all in some form guilty of political correctness.

Posted by mike c on 2014-10-15 00:25:11

thanx for your reply.i sometimes feel alone in my convictions,but its nice to get an amen! :) ..and yes, there is a political day of reckoning coming to a theatre near you! :)

Posted by mike c on 2014-10-15 00:13:20

About 50% of those killed in the Gaza war were combatants. That is much better than the British or American army which tends to have civilian casualty rates of 80%. It is even more surprising how Israel managed to keep civilian casualties relatively down when you consider how high the population density is in the Gaza Strip and Hamas's strategy of using civilian areas to house their leadership and store and fire their rockets. Even the UN condemned Hamas for using UN schools to store rockets.

It is important to do what you can to help those that can't defend themselves. You might not be able to do anything for the girls in Nigeria but you can vote for politicians that try to protect minorities from radical Muslims. And you can give to charities that help those that are oppressed: such as a charity that helps Yazidis escaping from ISIS or a charity that helps poverty stricken Christians in Pakistan that are discriminated against in 95% Muslim Pakistan. But try to find charities that don't want Muslim "refugees" coming to Western countries. The UN's UNHCR is a horrible charity to donate to because they want tens of thousands of Muslim "refugees" to become citizens of Christian-majority Western countries.

Posted by Andrew on 2014-10-05 20:38:17

Many of the Christians in Pakistan have left to go to the West because they don't feel safe. For instance, in 2013, SEVENTY FIVE Christians were killed in a suicide attack on a church in Peshawar, Pakistan. So don't go talking about how diverse Pakistan is, because it has become much less diverse (it went from 85% Muslim to 95% Muslim in the last century) and the minorities that do live in Pakistan often live in poverty and/or fear from their radical Muslim neighbors.

Posted by Andrew on 2014-10-05 20:33:04

well,well...never drink beers and blog... im going to have to retract those last comments with an apology to michele an family. while like most peaple i was disappointed that the girls were'nt rescued, those comments last night were over the top and not my point of view.im sure the prez did what he could and should with the advisors and recon, considering it was'nt in our national interest, and i also agree with him that we cant be the police of the world. and its about time some of these other countries pony up and save the world. everyone expects it from us, and then bitch later about how we did it. sry michele, im sure you being a mother was frustrated and alarmed about the abduction more than most...my bad

Posted by mike c. on 2014-08-08 14:41:58

if michele obama truly thought of those girls as her own then she would get off her dead ass and save those girls!!!! im very mad at her for commenting that those girls were like her own, but yet she talks out her ass and is not as serious as were lead to believe.i curse the obama family with much misery and empty life til they correct the nigerian girls plight.

Posted by mike c. on 2014-08-07 22:27:10

i guess the 300 black girls in nigeria are expendable and the current "pro muslim" administration must look the other way... but i find it very hard to sideline when i hear those black girls scream for help but no one cares cause they dont want to offend muslims...i wish i were superman and could come save them! ...life is cruel

Posted by mike c. on 2014-08-07 22:13:55

constance, i feel very privileged to have sparred in a sense with you in differences of opinion. i find you to be a very caring soul who is concerned about humanity, and you are a great asset to us all, and everytime i talk with you i think of John Lennon and imagine. :) live long and prosper

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-26 18:04:55

political correctness is the new hula-hoop...

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-26 17:05:41

in all fairness, im not an expert beyond being an armchair quarterback. only understanding what i read and see on t.v. , having never been to the middle east or to israel. not being jewish and if i traveled there, who knows? i might be repulsed by the feeling of being on the outside, looking in at a nonjews need not apply society and might feel compassion well up in my heart for the palistinian arab if i were in their mist. i wish we all could turn the swords into plowshares, swearing never again to slaughter each other. but i think its in our dna or charactor and we wont stop til weve self destructed.if there is a god i hope he stops us in our tracks, and teaches us to be our brothers keeper.i totally agree with you that israel should not kill the innocents.but what should we do? we cant be the world police. i agree with obama on that. we cant solve every crises around the world. and the u.n. at present is a big joke.thanks to them, haiti now has colera

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-24 16:43:35

true, millions of peaple through history have been tortured and murdered by ignorant so-called christians mainly under the banner of the catholic church in the dark ages, hense the term dark i understand to mean unenlightened. while in the same timeframe the muslim world was flourishing with science, philosophy, medicine, and other higher learning. But if the established christian churches at the time were following the new testiment word for word instead of using only what they needed to control the masses,they would have been teaching mercy,loving they nieghbor as thyself,forgiveness, all the teachings of christ. but instead, evil selfserving men highjacked the christian movement, and were not practicing what the scripture clearly read. in contrast, most of todays moderate muslims are good peaple at heart, but not following the korans teachings word for word, such as killing the infidel or anyone who does'nt convert to islam wherever they find them.whereas the so-called muslim extremist follows the koran word for word, so would be considered a devout follower of their faith, and the moderate,a lukewarm undevoted soul who like a lukewarm christian, is professing to be so, but not fully committed in their heart and daily life to their faith as it is written word for word in their holy book. just yesterday i read that a christian in iran was sentenced by a judge to being burned on the lips by a cigarette for not fasting during the holy month of ramadan, and 5 muslim men"moderates?" were sentenced to 70 lashes each for the same offense at the public square.i assume the christian got a lighter sentence because it wasnt his religion? however, ive heard horror stories of other iranian christians recieving the death penalty for not renouncing christ and converting to islam...no wonder i seen a bumper sticker on the car of i assume was an atheist that read " dear lord...save me from your followers!!"

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-24 16:11:23

First off, I think you bring up some fair points, especially regarding the media's lack of interest in other humanitarian crises throughout the world, i.e. the overwhelming and continuing bloodshed in Syria, Central African Republic, the Congo, Sudan, and as you mention, Nigeria. where innocent civilians are being killed and terrorized, usually at much higher rates than in Palestine. Part of the reason the progressive media lacks ongoing coverage of these issues, I think, is because they do not neatly align with an overarching progressive agenda. To some extent, this is a fair critique of the media and a fair critique of the world's propensity to jump, with righteous indignation, from one cause to another without sustaining any lasting concern. On that point, I hear you, and I totally agree. However, I do think there is legitimate reason for fostering particular concern over the crisis in Gaza, especially in the U.S.; mainly because,in this conflict, we are not simply spectators from afar, but our government's policy directly empowers the Israeli government. Through enormous monetary and diplomatic aid, the U.S., more than any country in the world, is complicit, if not responsible, for the disaster in Gaza. Just yesterday, the U.S. was the sole veto in a UN resolution presented to direct an independent inquiry into Israel's bombing campaign. Not only has the U.S. has assured unquestioning loyalty to Israel over the past decades, the U.S. has permitted, even encouraged the expansion of settlements, unjust targeting, suspension, and arrest of Palestinian citizens, and, as I type this, unremitting violence which disproportionately harms civilians. Perhaps this is why the U.S. media is particularly interested in this conflict, as opposed to others where we do not hold such immediate sway. But perhaps I think too highly of the media.

As to your point on Iraq: True, Iraq was by no means a "pinpoint operation," which is one of the many reasons I, along with most other progressives, strongly opposed the effort. That is, aside from being poorly crafted, poorly executed, and poorly grounded, the Iraq war was, ethically speaking, indefensible, precisely because of the huge numbers of civilian casualties. Whether or not the enemy shields military bases amid urban areas does not determine whether or not a country may bomb densely populated areas, as per international law. There are many additional reasons for opposing the war in Iraq, but that's a separate topic which does not, in one way or another, relay the justice of Israel's use of force in Gaza.

Now you also bring up WWII, citing the bombing campaign on German cities. To that, I would simply remind you that, even at its time, the bombing of Dresden and other German cities was highly controversial. To this day, it is a subject of ongoing debate, even among fierce advocates of the war. Needless to say, it is a very difficult question, one that I don't claim to fully understand. Still, there is a massive distinction between bombing German cities during WWII, and bombing civilians in Gaza today. Nazi Germany, having already slaughtered millions of Jews, dissidents, and others that the Third Reich deemed unworthy, posed an existential threat, not just to the Jewish community, but to an entire way of life, an entire culture, an entire source of humanity. Leaving Hitler to realize his vision would literally strip the world of any pretense of dignity it had left. So, if ever there was a case for grudgingly (and tearfully) enduring civilian casualties in pursuit of a higher goal, a worth aim, WWII was the time. But even still, I think WWII tactics, by both the U.S. and the British, were indefensible, even given the urgency of the circumstances-- we should care just as deeply about the tactics used within war as we do about the cause of war itself.

Hamas, on the other hand, does not pose an existential threat to the state of Israel, nor could it ever. Try as they might, Hamas cannot remotely compete with Israel's level of military sophistication and might. Thus, for Israel to relentlessly pound Gaza with bombs, knowing fully well that innocent civilians are trapped there (mostly due to Israel's repressive policies) and will be killed as a result, is unspeakable. Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself, a right to live in peace without constant rocket fire. But Palestine, as well, has a right to exist, a right to defend itself, a right to live without constant terror, without churches, mosques, hospitals, and homes being demolished. Palestinians have the right to live with full-scale citizenship and equal protection under the law. Anything less is an insult.

Lastly, I take issue with your rigid dismissal of Islam as "a religion of constant jihad and sword." True, fundamentalist Islam is an incredibly divisive, violent, and insidious ideology, one that has claimed millions of lives. But so is fundamentalist Christianity-- I won't bore you with the history. At any rate, to universally condemn Islam demonstrates a shallow disregard for the plurality of opinion within the Muslim community. In fact, there is a large, and growing, number of Muslim activists, many of whom actively rebuke the horrific acts of violence and abuse perpetrated on behalf of their religion. Sayyid Al-Qemany is one such example, but there are many more.

Also, I think you speak for everyone when you insist that, hopefully, Hamas will never secure a nuclear weapon or any other weapon of mass destruction. Thankfully, I think that concern is fairly far-removed, at least at the moment. However, to reduce violence, to disintegrate an ideology constructed on resentment and fear, it is imperative not to compound the level of division and bloodshed, but to comprehensively address actual grievances. Until that happens, there is little hope of effectively resolving the dispute.

Posted by Constance on 2014-07-24 11:08:28

correction, 300+ girls and 100+ days since they were taken from their families. sry, the media has been downplaying this important humanitarian story so much that they've got me doing it. :(

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-24 07:25:40

when muslims do very bad things the world seems to look the other way like they think " oh thats just the muslims way or their indigenous customs". what ever happened to the 100+ very young nigerian girls kidnapped by boko haram and forced to convert to islam, sold into sexual slavery and brutality? were the very brave and obstinate christians girls that refused to convert brutally murdered in front of the others as an example? why did Michele not have her husband send in the calvary if she thought of these girls as her own? we sent some token advisors but you know as well as i that if those were actual presidents daughters we would have threw all we had at it to get them home safe. what if they were white europeon girls from prominant families? and boko haram was instead an israeli extremist group? would the worlds response and outrage had been different? im not jewish btw, im irish/native american and from a fairly nuetral standpoint, center democrat, maybe independent in some views but see the unbalanced response the world takes when it comes to israel vs the muslim nations. maybe its because theirs more potential muslim voters? i dont know the answer to that yet, but i love a good mystery.

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-24 06:58:50

i might add that the iraqi war to take out saddam wasnt a "pinpoint operation" either. (as Kerry sarcastically remarked off mic about israel's attempt at avoiding nonmilitary targets)its very hard to fight a foe in urban setting that uses civilians as shield and cover.and its always procedure to bomb by air as many military targets as possible pre-invasion to limit risk to boots on the ground. thats just the nature of war. it happened on D day in ww2 and all modern wars. i think it shows a concern of innocent casualties for israel to try and warn peaple to flee before bombing. but for some reason they stay. maybe hamas prevents peaple from getting out of harms way cause they want body count?

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-23 16:25:59

you make a lot of sense, but ive also noticed that once israel starts defending itself from terrorism and relentless rockets, the whole world puts muslim on muslim violence to the back burner and overlooks the war crimes and atrocities committed in syria,iraq, and other hotspots cause the world it loves its jewbashing. why has the world suddenly grown so accustomed to children in syria being killed,maimed, sexually assaulted,sold by their own families for bread,made homeless and countryless all by the hand of their fellow muslims? hamas hasnt been as effective at killing civilians as israel,but not for the lack of trying. war isnt victimless.peaple die. israel wants peace.islam by nature is a religion of constant jihad and sword.if they say its peaceful,they lie,or are lied to,and decieved. if hamas gets its hands on a nuke courtesy of iran will the world cheer when its rid of israel,but overlook the fact that muslims also killed millions of muslims to accomplish it? its an interesting question that i hope i never see answered.

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-23 15:14:41

all the more reason not to believe al jazeera? ...and im sure some christians are safe in Pakistan,depending on what region they live in. The jewish american journalist David Pearl was beheaded in Pakistan simply for being a jewish american.i hope the intolerance will fade where you can have more friends of different faiths. :) Pakistan needs more citizens like you! ...maybe there is hope in the younger, more open generation?

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-23 06:17:03

lol beheaded? Pakistan is a Muslim country, with population of several faiths... As an example my best friend is a Christian, funny how he is still alive, no? :)

Don't talk shit when you know nothing but propaganda that media have fed you, genius! -_-

Posted by Hotaro on 2014-07-23 02:57:26

I agree with all of that. Hamas is absolutely a life-threatening cancer whose ultimate aim is the destruction of Israel. Hamas specifically targets Israeli civilians; and Hamas is not deterred even by civilian casualties in Palestine (in some ways such casualties strengthen them.) Needless to say, Hamas should be condemned in the strongest way possible, and indeed, as you mention, peace negotiations would be considerably more productive without a group of militant fanatics hijacking the process.

HOWEVER, none of this justifies the horrific levels of violence Israel has employed to neutralize said threat. Regardless of intentions, the Israeli army has killed over 400 civilians (the number will probably be higher by the time you read this,) injured over a thousand, displaced thousands more, and wreaked a mass of destruction on whole villages and communities. Even if you agree that Israel, along with any other state, has the right to defend itself (as I do), the disproportionate, wholesale bombing and shelling of areas densely populated by Palestinian civilians is absolutely indefensible, even by the most lenient standards of "just war." Israel's virulent campaign breaches international law, the Geneva conventions, and sheer human dignity. It's a crime against humanity.

But not only that, Israel's strategy defies logic. If anything, Hamas has garnered worldwide sympathy because of Israel's use of violence. Every time a Palestinian child falls prey to an Israeli bomb, more civilians that would otherwise remain partial to diplomacy are radicalized beyond repair, and it's easy to understand why.

So yes, Israel should stop before they've swept Gaza clean of Hamas: first, because it's impossible to kill an ideology by employing systematic violence, and secondly, and most urgently, because even if it were possible, it would be at the expense of hundreds of more Palestinian lives, all of which are equally valuable and worth protecting.

Posted by Constance on 2014-07-22 23:30:10

i encourage you to read the hamas charter. it states that they will stop at nothing,sacrifice everything,everyone, to wipe israel from existance.and the population of gaza had better go along with them or hamas will kill any dissent. so hamas is much like a life threatening cancer that must be cut out for the host to survive.if there was no hamas, the palistinian authority would sign the treaty and there might be peace.but there is no dealing with hamas. they dont want peace,they started it,they want war.but jumped the gun in using their tunnels.now the secrets out and their tunnels of terror are wasted labor.

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-22 16:13:18

and you think arab countries are tolerant?!? lol...you truly are living in a liberal lala land! and if you found yourself in saudi arabia... liberal thoughts(or any thoughts contrary to islam) could get you beheaded! talk about opposites attract! ...i wonder where this love affair that libs have with islam will find them when a worldwide sharia law is instituted? islam is the most intolerant society in history.

Posted by mike c. on 2014-07-22 15:54:26

"freedom of speech"

Posted by Ibrahim Ahmad on 2014-07-22 13:40:44

So there is literally no cost too high in Israel's attempt to eradicate Hamas? Even as civilian casualties climb past 400 and Gaza turns to rubble? If that's not an extremist position, I don't know what is. I encourage you to read this letter by a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza: